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124-410: The Logan Square branch was an elevated rapid transit line of the Chicago "L" , where it was one of the branches of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad . Diverging north from the Metropolitan's main line west of Marshfield station , it opened in 1895 and served Chicago's Logan Square and West Town neighborhoods. North of Damen station , the Humboldt Park branch diverged from

248-469: A 1918 influenza outbreak, a prohibition that has remained in force ever since. Nevertheless, the CA&;E still allowed smoking as late as 1948, splitting its cars into smoking and non-smoking components. In the last year of the three-branch model, 1950, Canal served 2,089,044 riders, making it the 14th-busiest of 123 "L" stations and the busiest in the former Metropolitan division. After the construction of

372-636: A 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892, and began securing right of way shortly thereafter. As designed, the Metropolitan's operations comprised a main line that went westward from downtown to diverge into three branches – one northwest to Logan Square , one due west to Garfield Park , and one southwest to Douglas Park  – and serve various parts of Chicago's west side. A further branch to Humboldt Park would proceed due west from

496-558: A 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892, and began securing right of way shortly thereafter. As designed, the Metropolitan's operations would comprise a main line that went west from downtown to Marshfield , where three branches – one going northwest, one going due west to Garfield Park , and one going southwest to Douglas Park  – would diverge and serve various parts of Chicago's west side. The formally titled "Northwest branch" would continue to Robey station , where it would split into

620-425: A body of water), which are potential congestion sites but also offer an opportunity for transfers between lines. Ring lines provide good coverage, connect between the radial lines and serve tangential trips that would otherwise need to cross the typically congested core of the network. A rough grid pattern can offer a wide variety of routes while still maintaining reasonable speed and frequency of service. A study of

744-454: A code for its stations. Unlike that of Singapore's MRT, it is mostly numbers. Based on the line number, for example Sinyongsan station, is coded as station 429. Being on Line 4, the first number of the station code is 4. The last two numbers are the station number on that line. Interchange stations can have multiple codes. Like City Hall station in Seoul which is served by Line 1 and Line 2. It has

868-651: A code of 132 and 201 respectively. The Line 2 is a circle line and the first stop is City Hall, therefore, City Hall has the station code of 201. For lines without a number like Bundang line it will have an alphanumeric code. Lines without a number that are operated by KORAIL will start with the letter 'K'. With widespread use of the Internet and cell phones globally, transit operators now use these technologies to present information to their users. In addition to online maps and timetables, some transit operators now offer real-time information which allows passengers to know when

992-583: A conventional track is often provided in case of flat tires and for switching . There are also some rubber-tired systems that use a central guide rail , such as the Sapporo Municipal Subway and the NeoVal system in Rennes , France. Advocates of this system note that it is much quieter than conventional steel-wheeled trains, and allows for greater inclines given the increased traction of

1116-405: A dedicated right-of-way are typically used only outside dense areas, since they create a physical barrier in the urban fabric that hinders the flow of people and vehicles across their path and have a larger physical footprint. This method of construction is the cheapest as long as land values are low. It is often used for new systems in areas that are planned to fill up with buildings after the line

1240-462: A firefighter, was such that trains were blocked from reaching the Canal station or points beyond for the next several days due to the warping of the tracks. The fire necessitated a rebuild of the station. Union Station was rebuilt in 1925, and the new station was located closer to Canal, one block away. It included a transfer point to the Canal station. The Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C)

1364-418: A large number of factors, including geographical barriers, existing or expected travel patterns, construction costs, politics, and historical constraints. A transit system is expected to serve an area of land with a set of lines , which consist of shapes summarized as "I", "L", "U", "S", and "O" shapes or loops. Geographical barriers may cause chokepoints where transit lines must converge (for example, to cross

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1488-652: A large part of the network, for example, in outer suburbs, runs at ground level. In most of Britain , a subway is a pedestrian underpass . The terms Underground and Tube are used for the London Underground . The North East England Tyne and Wear Metro , mostly overground, is known as the Metro . In Scotland , the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway . In Ireland ,

1612-452: A line is obtained by multiplying the car capacity, the train length, and the service frequency . Heavy rapid transit trains might have six to twelve cars, while lighter systems may use four or fewer. Cars have a capacity of 100 to 150 passengers, varying with the seated to standing ratio  – more standing gives higher capacity. The minimum time interval between trains is shorter for rapid transit than for mainline railways owing to

1736-615: A metro. In Spain, such systems are present in Madrid , Barcelona , Bilbao and Valencia . In Portugal, Lisbon has a metro. The Italian cities of Catania , Genoa , Milan , Naples , Rome and Turin also have metro lines. In Germany and Austria they rapid transit is known as U-Bahn , which are often supported by S-Bahn systems. In Germany, U-Bahn systems exist in Berlin , Hamburg , Munich and Nuremberg , while in Austria such

1860-486: A part of the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust on July 1, 1911. CER acted as a de facto holding company for the "L" – unifying its operations, instituting the same management across the companies, and instituting free transfers between the lines starting in 1913 – but kept the underlying companies intact. This continued until the companies were formally merged into

1984-732: A rapid transit setting. Canal station (CTA Metropolitan Main Line) Canal was a rapid transit station located on the Metropolitan main line of the Chicago "L" that was in service from 1895 to 1958, when the entire main line was replaced by the Congress Line located in the median of the nearby Eisenhower Expressway . Starting in 1927, the interurban Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E) also served

2108-459: A special fare collection area. As originally opened, the Metropolitan's trains ran every six minutes between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and every ten minutes during the night; the average speed was 16 mph (26 km/h). By 1898, this schedule was updated so that trains ran at 30-minute intervals on each branch, or 7.5 minutes on the main line. Trains running the Westchester branch , which

2232-565: A specialized transit police may be established. These security measures are normally integrated with measures to protect revenue by checking that passengers are not travelling without paying. Some subway systems, such as the Beijing Subway , which is ranked by Worldwide Rapid Transit Data as the "World's Safest Rapid Transit Network" in 2015, incorporates airport-style security checkpoints at every station. Rapid transit systems have been subject to terrorism with many casualties, such as

2356-481: A station on Clinton Street near where Canal had stood. The Metropolitan boasted of providing water closets, water fountains, newsstands, and waiting rooms at its stations, which also included racks for bicycles, staff to announce those in waiting rooms of approaching trains, and space for baby carriages. Unlike elsewhere on the "L", the Metropolitan's station houses had central heating and basements. The station had two island platforms . The original station house

2480-608: A system exists in Vienna . In addition, the small, car-free town of Serfaus in the Austrian state of Tyrol also features a short U-Bahn line. There are no U-Bahn systems in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, but the city of Lausanne has its own, small metro system. In Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, a project for a U-Bahn network was stopped by a referendum in the 1970s and instead its S-Bahn system

2604-590: A trunk-and-branch model. The subway's approval did not immediately imply the end of the old Logan Square branch; plans in 1939 included another proposed subway to connect the branch with the Ravenswood branch to the north and through-routing it with the Douglas Park branch to the south into a subway on Ashland Avenue to form a crosstown route. Damen Tower serving the Humboldt Park branch divergence

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2728-595: A truss bridge that carried trains over the Metra rail lines (former Chicago & Northwestern and Milwaukee Road lines) has been re-used as a signal bridge. Prior to the 1894 decision to electrify its tracks, the Metropolitan had placed an order from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia for steam locomotives. After the decision, however, the order was modified to instead provide for electric "motor cars" and unpowered "trailers". Electric traction in

2852-801: Is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area . Rapid transit systems such as the Washington Metrorail , Los Angeles Metro Rail , the Miami Metrorail , and the Montreal Metro are generally called the Metro . In Philadelphia , the term "El" is used for the Market–Frankford Line which runs mostly on an elevated track, while the term "subway" applies to the Broad Street Line which is almost entirely underground. Chicago 's commuter rail system that serves

2976-608: Is a single corporate image for the entire transit authority, but the rapid transit uses its own logo that fits into the profile. A transit map is a topological map or schematic diagram used to show the routes and stations in a public transport system. The main components are color-coded lines to indicate each line or service, with named icons to indicate stations. Maps may show only rapid transit or also include other modes of public transport. Transit maps can be found in transit vehicles, on platforms , elsewhere in stations, and in printed timetables . Maps help users understand

3100-506: Is built. Most rapid transit trains are electric multiple units with lengths from three to over ten cars. Crew sizes have decreased throughout history, with some modern systems now running completely unstaffed trains. Other trains continue to have drivers, even if their only role in normal operation is to open and close the doors of the trains at stations. Power is commonly delivered by a third rail or by overhead wires . The whole London Underground network uses fourth rail and others use

3224-416: Is necessary, rolling stock with a smaller loading gauge from one sub network may be transported along other lines that use larger trains. On some networks such operations are part of normal services. Most rapid transit systems use conventional standard gauge railway track . Since tracks in subway tunnels are not exposed to rain , snow , or other forms of precipitation , they are often fixed directly to

3348-555: Is referred to simply as "the subway", despite 40% of the system running above ground. The term "L" or "El" is not used for elevated lines in general as the lines in the system are already designated with letters and numbers. The "L" train or L (New York City Subway service) refers specifically to the 14th Street–Canarsie Local line, and not other elevated trains. Similarly, the Toronto Subway is referred to as "the subway", with some of its system also running above ground. These are

3472-412: Is serviced by at least one specific route with trains stopping at all or some of the line's stations. Most systems operate several routes, and distinguish them by colors, names, numbering, or a combination thereof. Some lines may share track with each other for a portion of their route or operate solely on their own right-of-way. Often a line running through the city center forks into two or more branches in

3596-748: Is the most commonly used term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. Rapid transit systems may be named after the medium by which passengers travel in busy central business districts ; the use of tunnels inspires names such as subway , underground , Untergrundbahn ( U-Bahn ) in German, or the Tunnelbana (T-bana) in Swedish. The use of viaducts inspires names such as elevated ( L or el ), skytrain , overhead , overground or Hochbahn in German. One of these terms may apply to an entire system, even if

3720-552: The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924. The "L" was taken over by the publicly-held Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in 1947. Substantial revisions to the lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan had been planned since the 1930s; all told, they would replace the Logan Square branch with a subway to go directly downtown and substitute a rapid transit right of way in the median of

3844-627: The Dublin Area Rapid Transit is despite the name considered a commuter rail due to usage of mainline railways. In France, large cities, such as Paris , Marseille and Lyon , feature a Métro . Also the smaller cities of Lille Rennes have a light metro. Furthermore, Brussels in Belgium, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands have metro systems in place. Several Southern European contries also have

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3968-752: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad K-series cars from 1958, the New York City Subway R38 and R42 cars from the late-1960s, and the Nagoya Municipal Subway 3000 series , Osaka Municipal Subway 10 series and MTR M-Train EMUs from the 1970s, were generally only made possible largely due to the relatively generous loading gauges of these systems and also adequate open-air sections to dissipate hot air from these air conditioning units. Especially in some rapid transit systems such as

4092-429: The London Underground . In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway , initially a cable-hauled line using stationary steam engines . As of 2021 , China has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world  – 40 in number, running on over 4,500 km (2,800 mi) of track – and was responsible for most of the world's rapid-transit expansion in

4216-740: The Metropolitan Railway opened publicly in London in 1863. High capacity monorails with larger and longer trains can be classified as rapid transit systems. Such monorail systems recently started operating in Chongqing and São Paulo . Light metro is a subclass of rapid transit that has the speed and grade separation of a "full metro" but is designed for smaller passenger numbers. It often has smaller loading gauges, lighter train cars and smaller consists of typically two to four cars. Light metros are typically used as feeder lines into

4340-578: The Montreal Metro (opened 1966) and Sapporo Municipal Subway (opened 1971), their entirely enclosed nature due to their use of rubber-tyred technology to cope with heavy snowfall experienced by both cities in winter precludes any air-conditioning retrofits of rolling stock due to the risk of heating the tunnels to temperatures that would be too hot for passengers and for train operations. In many cities, metro networks consist of lines operating different sizes and types of vehicles. Although these sub-networks may not often be connected by track, in cases when it

4464-464: The Near West Side , the new subway had over 60 percent higher ridership than the old Logan Square branch by the end of the year. After the replacement of the southern half of the branch in 1951, the two sections of transit had different histories. The Humboldt Park branch had been targeted for closure as early as early 1950, and closed in 1952. The surviving portion of the Logan Square branch

4588-589: The Prague Metro . The London Underground and Paris Métro are densely built systems with a matrix of crisscrossing lines throughout the cities. The Chicago 'L' has most of its lines converging on The Loop , the main business, financial, and cultural area. Some systems have a circular line around the city center connecting to radially arranged outward lines, such as the Moscow Metro 's Koltsevaya Line and Beijing Subway 's Line 10 . The capacity of

4712-685: The Singapore MRT , Changi Airport MRT station has the alphanumeric code CG2, indicating its position as the 2nd station on the Changi Airport branch of the East West Line. Interchange stations have at least two codes, for example, Raffles Place MRT station has two codes, NS26 and EW14, the 26th station on the North South Line and the 14th station on the East West Line. The Seoul Metro is another example that utilizes

4836-450: The deep tube lines . Historically, rapid transit trains used ceiling fans and openable windows to provide fresh air and piston-effect wind cooling to riders. From the 1950s to the 1990s (and in most of Europe until the 2000s), many rapid transit trains from that era were also fitted with forced-air ventilation systems in carriage ceiling units for passenger comfort. Early rapid transit rolling stock fitted with air conditioning , such as

4960-409: The linear motor for propulsion. Some urban rail lines are built to a loading gauge as large as that of main-line railways ; others are built to a smaller one and have tunnels that restrict the size and sometimes the shape of the train compartments. One example is most of the London Underground , which has acquired the informal term "tube train" due to the cylindrical shape of the trains used on

5084-554: The "Eisenhower", following the route of Congress Street, had been proposed since the 1909 Plan of Chicago and more thoroughly planned in the early 1930s. A 1939 plan introduced the idea of replacing the main line and Garfield Park branch with a line of rapid transit running through this highway. Construction on the expressway and the "Congress Line" was adopted by the City Council in 1940 and formally authorized for construction in 1946. Three different agreements were made between

Logan Square branch - Misplaced Pages Continue

5208-645: The "L" fleet throughout the first half of the 20th century. After the CER assumed operations, it placed two orders for steel-bodied cars from the Cincinnati Car Company in 1914 and 1924, known collectively as the "4000-series"; however, as late as 1949, only wooden cars were assigned to the Logan Square branch. When the first 6000-series were delivered in August 1950, they were placed on the Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches for trials in anticipation of

5332-518: The "L" until October 1, 1947. Union Station had been built in 1888 and was located on the Chicago River a few blocks from Canal. The station was consequently often used as a gateway to go to the west side for people leaving Union Station. Ridership was such that a second entrance was added onto Clinton Street in 1914. The Canal station and its surroundings were destroyed by a fire in the early morning of March 15, 1922. The fire, which killed

5456-541: The "L" until October 1, 1947. Plans for Chicago to have a subway system to relieve the severe congestion of, if not replace, its elevated trackage dated back to the early 20th century, but the city lagged in building subways. Chicago petitioned the Public Works Administration (PWA) for construction funds for a subway on State Street in 1937. The petition originally included a proposal for two downtown east-west streetcar tunnels . Harold L. Ickes ,

5580-592: The "Logan Square branch" going further northwest and the Humboldt Park branch going due west. However, as early as 1898, the Metropolitan itself was referring to the Northwest branch as part of the "Logan Square branch". The Northwest branch's tracks were finished by October 1894 and powered on in April 1895 for test runs; service on the branch and the main line commenced on May 6 between Robey and Canal . Service

5704-510: The "frustration walk" for commuters, although it was considered one of the few good areas for railfans to see trains at Union Station at the time. There were two connections between the walkway and the "L" station; patrons coming from the "L" would use the station house, whereas those coming from Union Station were led directly to the "L" platforms through a covered walkway from Track 2 of the Union Station trainshed after going through

5828-432: The 15 world largest subway systems suggested a universal shape composed of a dense core with branches radiating from it. Rapid transit operators have often built up strong brands , often focused on easy recognition – to allow quick identification even in the vast array of signage found in large cities – combined with the desire to communicate speed, safety, and authority. In many cities, there

5952-488: The 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and the 2005 " 7/7 " terrorist bombings on the London Underground. Some rapid transport trains have extra features such as wall sockets, cellular reception, typically using a leaky feeder in tunnels and DAS antennas in stations, as well as Wi-Fi connectivity. The first metro system in the world to enable full mobile phone reception in underground stations and tunnels

6076-621: The 2010s. The world's longest single-operator rapid transit system by route length is the Shanghai Metro . The world's largest single rapid transit service provider by number of stations (472 stations in total) is the New York City Subway . The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Shanghai Metro, Tokyo subway system , Seoul Metro and the Moscow Metro . The term Metro

6200-532: The 21st century, most new expansions and systems are located in Asia, with China becoming the world's leader in metro expansion, operating some of the largest and busiest systems while possessing almost 60 cities that are operating, constructing or planning a rapid transit system . Rapid transit is used for local transport in cities , agglomerations , and metropolitan areas to transport large numbers of people often short distances at high frequency . The extent of

6324-614: The CTA, Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois between 1951 and 1954 concerning the financing and ownership of the new construction, which soon commenced. A separate but related project, the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway , opened on February 25, 1951, rerouting Logan Square and Humboldt Park trains from Canal. Changes were made to the Garfield Park and Douglas Park lines on December 9, 1951. Several stations were closed, including Laflin on

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6448-536: The Congress Superhighway for the main line and Garfield Park branch. This was largely complete by the 1958 opening of the Congress Line, which includes a station on Clinton Street near the site of Canal. Canal was located on the four-track main line and had two island platforms in common with other stations on the main line. The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted

6572-548: The Dearborn Street subway even though it was 82 percent completed by 1942. After the war ended, work resumed on the Dearborn Street subway and it opened at the midnight beginning Sunday, February 25, 1951; at the same time, the Humboldt Park branch was restricted to a shuttle service to and from Damen on the Logan Square branch. Having been rendered obsolete by the subway, the Lake Street Transfer station

6696-464: The Dearborn plan being adopted in 1938. A 1939 plan also introduced the idea of replacing the Metropolitan's main line and Garfield Park branch with a section of rapid transit operating through a proposed superhighway on Congress Street (the eventual Interstate 290 ). These sections of transit would be connected, allowing for the area's rapid transit to be routed through downtown rather than adhere to

6820-449: The Garfield Park "L" trackage was replaced by temporary street-level ("at-grade") tracks between Sacramento Boulevard and Aberdeen Street, essentially removing all stops between Kedzie on the branch and Halsted on the main line. This change impacted westbound trains on September 20, 1953, and eastbound trains on September 27. The CA&E, having long struggled financially, refused to use the at-grade tracks due to safety concerns as well as

6944-425: The Humboldt Park branch and the Logan Square branch proper. As early as 1898, however, even the Metropolitan itself considered the Northwest branch as part of the "Logan Square branch", although ridership statistics continued to separate them. The Northwest branch and main line were the first Metropolitan lines to open, entering service on May 6, 1895; combined, they were the first revenue electric elevated railroad in

7068-454: The Logan Square branch past Robey Street. Originally intending for its railroad to be powered by steam locomotives like the competing South Side and Lake Street Elevateds , the Metropolitan decided in May 1894 to use electric traction instead; the tracks had already been largely constructed prior to the decision to electrify them, but retrofitting the third rail proved an easy task outside of

7192-444: The Logan Square branch, going west to serve Humboldt Park . The original Logan Square branch was separated into several sections in 1951, some of which remain in revenue service as of 2023. What history remembers as the "Logan Square branch" was actually the combination of two routes. Diverging from Marshfield was the Metropolitan's Northwest branch , proceeding northward and northwestward to Damen. The Northwest branch then split into

7316-549: The Loop. This continued until a new terminal on Fifth Avenue  – renamed "Wells Street" in 1912 – was constructed to handle overflow traffic in 1904. The Metropolitan's lines were originally operated by the West Side Construction Company, which had been responsible for constructing them, and were transferred to the Metropolitan on October 6, 1896. The backers and officers of

7440-521: The Metropolitan and Lake Street Divisions, while afterwards they were all recorded under the Metropolitan. Including only the Metropolitan's riders prior to that year, the station at Lake Street would be the lowest-ridership station on the Northwest and combined branches every year through 1936; however, combining its figures with that of the Lake Street's portion of the Transfer after 1913,

7564-597: The Metropolitan was forced to trim its downtown right of way back one block to Franklin Street due to acquisition costs. Even on opening day, work on the bridge crossing the Chicago River was not yet done, so trains terminated at Canal until the Franklin Street Terminal was ready on May 17. The Loop , an elevated rail trackage to be used as a common downtown terminal between all "L" companies,

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7688-422: The Northwest branch regained 24-hour station agents in 1935. From 1900 through 1903, Robey was the highest-ridership station both on the Northwest branch and the entire Logan Square branch; in that same time, Western was the busiest station on the Logan Square branch proper in 1900 before being surpassed by the Logan Square terminal from 1901. Starting in 1904 the Logan Square terminal would surpass Robey to be

7812-462: The United States. The Logan Square branch proper followed on May 25, and the Humboldt Park branch opened on July 29. The Metropolitan continued to operate its lines, with some interruptions and difficulties, until it handed control over to the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust in 1911 and formally merged into the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924. The Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway

7936-462: The administrator of the PWA and a longtime Chicagoan, vetoed the streetcar tunnel plan and insisted instead on a second subway that would go under Dearborn Street and Milwaukee Avenue, which would provide a more direct route from Logan Square to downtown. Although this idea engendered considerable local opposition, especially from mayor Edward Joseph Kelly , Ickes's influence in the federal government led to

8060-478: The beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant. Experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. In 1890, the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Prior to opening, the line was to be called the "City and South London Subway", thus introducing

8184-586: The branch had been raised by early 1950, but was deferred until the opening of the subway. The fare across the "L" was legally mandated to be a nickel (5 cents, $ 1.37 in 2021) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The nickel fare continued until temporarily increased by a cent to 6 cents in 1917 ($ 1.27 in 2021) before stabilizing to a dime in 1920 (10 cents, $ 1.35 in 2021). Starting in 1922, fares were usually marketed in packs of three rides for 25 cents, or 8 + 1 ⁄ 3 cents per ride ($ 1.35 per ride in 2021), but individual fares remained 10 cents each. At

8308-445: The busiest in the former Metropolitan division outside of the new Dearborn subway. The station's 1957 performance was a 10.19 percent decline from the 1956 figure of 1,339,873 riders, when it had been the 19th-busiest of 134 stations. For the part of 1958 it was open, the station served 509,669 riders, being the 68th-busiest out of 138 "L" stations open during at least part of that year. The new Clinton station picked up 581,012 patrons for

8432-449: The busiest station on the combined branch every year, but Robey would continue to lead the Northwest branch every year through 1945 and again in 1948, being beaten by Chicago for 1946 and 1947. The Northwest branch's ridership peaked in 1900 at 4,844,510 riders , compared to a 1926 peak of the Logan Square branch proper at 5,514,791 passengers . Prior to 1937, ridership figures for the Lake Street Transfer were counted separately between

8556-567: The companies were formally merged into the single Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT), which assumed operations on January 9, 1924; the former Metropolitan was designated the Metropolitan Division of the CRT for administrative purposes. Although municipal ownership of transit had been a hotly-contested issue for half a century , the publicly-owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) would not be created until 1945, or assume operation of

8680-590: The connector was returned to non-revenue use only. The portion north of the Lake Street branch was demolished in 1964, as the junction with the Lake Street branch rendered it superfluous. By 2003, the Paulina Connector was in need of renovation, as it remained the only connection between the Blue Line and the rest of the system. As part of a renovation of the Cermak (formerly Douglas) branch, the connector

8804-481: The curves of the main line limited operation to as slow as 12 mph (19 km/h) around Canal. Nevertheless, CA&E took one minute to go from Wells Street to Canal. Unlike the Lake Street Elevated, which operated smoking cars at some times but not at others, all of the Metropolitan's motor cars allowed smoking . Smoking was banned by the city across the "L" and in streetcars in response to

8928-414: The display of the transit network. Often this has the effect of compressing the distance between stations in the outer area of the system, and expanding distances between those close to the center. Some systems assign unique alphanumeric codes to each of their stations to help commuters identify them, which briefly encodes information about the line it is on, and its position on the line. For example, on

9052-611: The entire metropolitan area is called Metra (short for Met ropolitan Ra il), while its rapid transit system that serves the city is called the "L" . Boston's subway system is known locally as "The T". In Atlanta , the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority goes by the acronym "MARTA." In the San Francisco Bay Area , residents refer to Bay Area Rapid Transit by its acronym "BART". The New York City Subway

9176-516: The floor rather than resting on ballast , such as normal railway tracks. An alternate technology, using rubber tires on narrow concrete or steel roll ways , was pioneered on certain lines of the Paris Métro and Mexico City Metro , and the first completely new system to use it was in Montreal , Canada. On most of these networks, additional horizontal wheels are required for guidance, and

9300-439: The interconnections between different parts of the system; for example, they show the interchange stations where passengers can transfer between lines. Unlike conventional maps, transit maps are usually not geographically accurate, but emphasize the topological connections among the different stations. The graphic presentation may use straight lines and fixed angles, and often a fixed minimum distance between stations, to simplify

9424-477: The late 19th century and early 20th centuries was such that one motor car generally pulled multiple trailers. Humboldt Park trains were unusual in that their motor cars instead pushed their trailers onto Logan Square trains to be coupled for the trip downtown, except during rush hours when Humboldt Park trains went directly downtown or night hours when the trains were only one car each. The Metropolitan adopted multiple-unit control during 1904–1905, eliminating

9548-635: The least-patronized station on the Northwest and combined branches becomes Madison in 1913 and Grand every year thereafter, including after 1937. The lowest-ridership station on the Logan Square branch proper was the Logan Square terminal in 1900 and Western in all subsequent years. Rapid transit Modern services on rapid transit systems are provided on designated lines between stations typically using electric multiple units on railway tracks . Some systems use guided rubber tires , magnetic levitation ( maglev ), or monorail . The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside

9672-602: The lines of the Lyon Metro includes a section of rack (cog) railway , while the Carmelit , in Haifa, is an underground funicular . For elevated lines, another alternative is the monorail , which can be built either as straddle-beam monorails or as a suspended monorail . While monorails have never gained wide acceptance outside Japan, there are some such as Chongqing Rail Transit 's monorail lines which are widely used in

9796-656: The main line in favor of the Paulina Connector to get downtown on April 4, 1954. This left Garfield Park trains as the only traffic remaining at Canal. In an unrelated project, Market Street was being widened into the southern leg of Wacker Drive on the riverbank opposite Canal; this required that the Market Street Junction switching trains between the Loop and the Wells Street Terminal be removed. The crossings were removed in

9920-500: The main line. Skip-stop , wherein trains were designated either as "A" trains or "B" trains and stopped at respective "A" or "B" stations, was applied during weekdays to the surviving stations; Canal was designated an "all-stop" station under this scheme and was thus unaffected. "L" service to the Wells Street Terminal was also discontinued, meaning that only CA&E trains served it from then on. More changes came in September 1953;

10044-557: The main rapid transit system. For instance, the Wenhu Line of the Taipei Metro serves many relatively sparse neighbourhoods and feeds into and complements the high capacity metro lines. Some systems have been built from scratch, others are reclaimed from former commuter rail or suburban tramway systems that have been upgraded, and often supplemented with an underground or elevated downtown section. Ground-level alignments with

10168-455: The motorman was unable to see out of that side, the conductor was also needed to signal the end of the boarding process using the train's buzzer. Lest it compete with the "L" directly, CA&E passengers were not allowed to board eastbound trains at Canal, nor were westbound passengers allowed to alight at stations within the "L" 's area of service. CA&E trains were limited to 45 mph (72 km/h) on "L" tracks, although in practice

10292-819: The need for Humboldt Park trains to push trailers onto Logan Square trains, although combining Logan Square and Humboldt Park trains at Damen continued in some form or another until 1950. In common with the other companies building what would become the Chicago "L", the Metropolitan provided wooden cars for its lines. The first trailers were built by the Pullman Car Company, whereas the first motor cars were built by Barney and Smith. Subsequent orders for trailers were built by Pullman, Harlan and Hollingsworth, and American Car and Foundry Company (ACF), and further motor car orders were fulfilled by Barney and Smith, Jewett, ACF, and Pullman. Wooden cars remained dominant in

10416-418: The network map "readable" by illiterate people, this system has since become an "icon" of the system. Compared to other modes of transport, rapid transit has a good safety record, with few accidents. Rail transport is subject to strict safety regulations , with requirements for procedure and maintenance to minimize risk. Head-on collisions are rare due to use of double track, and low operating speeds reduce

10540-402: The next vehicle will arrive, and expected travel times. The standardized GTFS data format for transit information allows many third-party software developers to produce web and smartphone app programs which give passengers customized updates regarding specific transit lines and stations of interest. Mexico City Metro uses a unique pictogram for each station. Originally intended to help make

10664-958: The occurrence and severity of rear-end collisions and derailments . Fire is more of a danger underground, such as the King's Cross fire in London in November 1987, which killed 31 people. Systems are generally built to allow evacuation of trains at many places throughout the system. High platforms , usually over 1 meter / 3 feet, are a safety risk, as people falling onto the tracks have trouble climbing back. Platform screen doors are used on some systems to eliminate this danger. Rapid transit facilities are public spaces and may suffer from security problems: petty crimes , such as pickpocketing and baggage theft, and more serious violent crimes , as well as sexual assaults on tightly packed trains and platforms. Security measures include video surveillance , security guards , and conductors . In some countries

10788-474: The old Logan Square elevated or the Humboldt Park branch; the new Damen Tower would never be installed with switching equipment, and the Logan Square branch south of Damen would be closed after the Dearborn subway opened. World War II interrupted the construction of the Dearborn Street subway; although the federal government allowed the continued construction of the State Street subway, it did not do so for

10912-603: The only two North American systems that are primarily called "subways". In most of Southeast Asia and in Taiwan , rapid transit systems are primarily known by the acronym MRT . The meaning varies from one country to another. In Indonesia , the acronym stands for Moda Raya Terpadu or Integrated Mass [Transit] Mode in English. In the Philippines , it stands for Metro Rail Transit . Two underground lines use

11036-481: The original branch into two sections. The branch north of the subway's entrance continued in revenue service as the "Milwaukee branch" and, after the closure of the Humboldt Park branch and extensions in 1970 and the early 1980s, currently serves as the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line ; the 1970 extension entailed the replacement of the original Logan Square terminal with a new subway through-station. The branch south of

11160-429: The other companies operating "L" lines in Chicago, became a part of the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust on July 1, 1911. CER acted as a de facto holding company for the "L" – unifying its operations, instituting the same management across the companies, and instituting free transfers between the lines starting in 1913 – but kept the underlying companies intact. This continued until

11284-587: The outset. Budapest , Chicago , Glasgow , Boston and New York City all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services. Hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro , which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems. In response to cost, engineering considerations and topological challenges some cities have opted to construct tram systems, particularly those in Australia, where density in cities

11408-477: The prospect of delays caused by the use of traffic signals at road crossings, and had serious doubts about its ability to reroute its right of way into the new expressway median. Despite some speculative plans for alternative train service to downtown Chicago, and after being disallowed by state regulators to abandon rail service altogether in favor of buses, the CA&E ultimately abandoned service east of Des Plaines on September 20. Douglas Park trains stopped using

11532-908: The rapid transit system varies greatly between cities, with several transport strategies. Some systems may extend only to the limits of the inner city, or to its inner ring of suburbs with trains making frequent station stops. The outer suburbs may then be reached by a separate commuter rail network where more widely spaced stations allow higher speeds. In some cases the differences between urban rapid transit and suburban systems are not clear. Rapid transit systems may be supplemented by other systems such as trolleybuses , regular buses , trams , or commuter rail. This combination of transit modes serves to offset certain limitations of rapid transit such as limited stops and long walking distances between outside access points. Bus or tram feeder systems transport people to rapid transit stops. Each rapid transit system consists of one or more lines , or circuits. Each line

11656-702: The rest of the "L" system. As part of the replacement of the Garfield Park branch with the Congress branch , a new junction between the Paulina Connector and the Lake Street branch was constructed, allowing trains from the Douglas branch to continue to reach the Loop while construction was ongoing. After construction was complete, Douglas branch trains resumed using the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway, and

11780-542: The rubber tires. However, they have higher maintenance costs and are less energy efficient. They also lose traction when weather conditions are wet or icy, preventing above-ground use of the Montréal Metro and limiting it on the Sapporo Municipal Subway, but not rubber-tired systems in other cities. Some cities with steep hills incorporate mountain railway technologies in their metros. One of

11904-418: The same time, a weekly pass was introduced, the first in a major American city, for $ 1.25 ($ 20.24 in 2021) for rides outside of Evanston and Wilmette . Unlike other elevated railroads at the time, the Metropolitan did not sell tickets for passengers to present to staff; instead customers gave their nickel to the station agent to record in a registry, a practice similar to streetcars at the time. This practice

12028-405: The single Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924, which assumed operations on January 9; the former Metropolitan was designated the Metropolitan Division of the CRT for administrative purposes. Although municipal ownership of transit had been a hotly-contested issue for half a century , the publicly-owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) would not be created until 1945, or assume operation of

12152-720: The station, continuing until 1953. The station connected with Chicago's Union Station , which was one of the city's rail terminals. One of the busiest stations on the Metropolitan's routes, and of the "L" in general, it opened a second entrance on Clinton Street in 1914. The Metropolitan operated a vast network of routes across Chicago's west side, including three branches – the Douglas Park , Garfield Park , and Logan Square branches  – diverging from its main line. It operated, with interruptions and financial issues, until it handed operations to Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) in 1911, and formally merged into

12276-663: The suburbs, allowing a higher service frequency in the center. This arrangement is used by many systems, such as the Copenhagen Metro , the Milan Metro , the Oslo Metro , the Istanbul Metro and the New York City Subway . Alternatively, there may be a single central terminal (often shared with the central railway station), or multiple interchange stations between lines in the city center, for instance in

12400-475: The subway the following year, Canal's ridership declined to 1,816,228, its ranking declined to 21 out of 132, and it was surpassed on the former Metropolitan by the Logan Square terminal connected to the subway. After 1954, however, it would regain its lead over Logan Square. In the final full year of its operation, 1957, Canal served 1,203,404 passengers, making it the 23rd-busiest of 133 "L" stations and

12524-415: The subway's opening. Given that only metal cars were allowed in the subways, most 6000-series were put into service on the branches. As originally opened, the Metropolitan's trains ran every six minutes between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and every ten minutes during the night. The average speed was 16 mph (26 km/h), and trains took 22 minutes to go from Robey to Canal. Plans to eliminate owl service on

12648-521: The subway, having been rendered obsolete, nevertheless served as the only link of the surviving branch to the rest of the "L" system and was kept in non-revenue operation as the Paulina Connector . After half a century, and the demolition of its northern half, the Connector re-entered revenue service in 2006 as part of the Pink Line . The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted

12772-549: The summer of 1954 and all trains were routed through the southern two tracks between Halsted and the Loop. On October 11, 1955, this structure, including the Franklin/Van Buren station , was in turn closed as trains instead used the northern two tracks through the former Wells Street Terminal to directly join the Loop. This arrangement continued, with the southern tracks sitting abandoned, until Garfield Park service ended altogether on June 22, 1958. The new line contains

12896-457: The switches of the main line. The main line and Logan Square branch up to Robey had their tracks completed by the middle of October 1894 and were given power in April 1895 for test and inspection runs. They began service at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 6, 1895, between Robey and Canal. Upon its opening, the Metropolitan became the first revenue electric elevated railroad in the United States. Originally planning to terminate downtown at Fifth Avenue ,

13020-714: The term subway . In Thailand , it stands for Metropolitan Rapid Transit , previously using the Mass Rapid Transit name. Outside of Southeast Asia, Kaohsiung and Taoyuan, Taiwan , have their own MRT systems which stands for Mass Rapid Transit , as with Singapore and Malaysia . In general rapid transit is a synonym for "metro" type transit, though sometimes rapid transit is defined to include "metro", commuter trains and grade separated light rail . Also high-capacity bus-based transit systems can have features similar to "metro" systems. The opening of London's steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked

13144-467: The term Subway into railway terminology. Both railways, alongside others, were eventually merged into London Underground . The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset. The technology quickly spread to other cities in Europe , the United States, Argentina, and Canada, with some railways being converted from steam and others being designed to be electric from

13268-511: The trains, requiring custom-made trains in order to minimize gaps between train and platform. They are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities . Some rapid transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. The world's first rapid transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened in 1863 using steam locomotives , and now forms part of

13392-472: The two companies were largely identical, however, so this transfer of ownership was nominal. The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan's vast trackage would catch up to the company, which entered receivership in 1897; the similarly-named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year. The Metropolitan, along with

13516-601: The use of communications-based train control : the minimum headway can reach 90 seconds, but many systems typically use 120 seconds to allow for recovery from delays. Typical capacity lines allow 1,200 people per train, giving 36,000 passengers per hour per direction . However, much higher capacities are attained in East Asia with ranges of 75,000 to 85,000 people per hour achieved by MTR Corporation 's urban lines in Hong Kong. Rapid transit topologies are determined by

13640-559: Was Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, which launched its first underground mobile phone network using AMPS in 1989. Many metro systems, such as the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and the Berlin U-Bahn, provide mobile data connections in their tunnels for various network operators. The technology used for public, mass rapid transit has undergone significant changes in the years since

13764-419: Was a western extension of the Garfield Park branch opened in 1926, ran express from Canal on the main line to Laramie on the Garfield Park branch. The CA&E stopped at Canal to board westbound passengers and alight eastbound passengers; conductors checked the tickets of everyone who had boarded at the Wells Street Terminal at Canal as well. Passengers boarded westbound trains on the train's left side ; since

13888-546: Was an interurban that had been in service since August 25, 1902, and using the Metropolitan's Garfield Park branch, main line, and Wells Street Terminal since March 11, 1905. Bankrupt in the aftermath of World War I, it was reorganized into the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E) in 1921. Despite this usage, the CA&E did not begin stopping at Canal until the Union Station reconstruction on August 1, 1927. A superhighway that would become Interstate 290 or

14012-406: Was closed and the Lake Street's Ashland station reopened. The subway was predicted to reduce the travel time between Logan Square and downtown from 28 minutes to 15. Since construction had not started on the Congress Line, trains in the Dearborn subway stopped at its southern terminus at LaSalle and turned back. Despite its incomplete state, and complaints from riders no longer given a direct trip to

14136-625: Was destroyed by the 1922 fire; the rebuilt design was to an off-white terra cotta design in the Beaux-Arts style by transit architect Arthur U. Gerber . The rebuilt station did not, however, include any shelter on the westbound platform. The new station house had a stairway descending below to a walkway, which connected passengers to Union Station half a block away. This walkway was separated from Union Station's tracks and platforms by an iron fence, and directed patrons to Union Station's lobby. The circuitousness of this route led to its being dubbed

14260-899: Was developed further. Other Central European countries also have metro lines, for example in the cities of Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czech Republic) and Warsaw (Poland). In Eastern Europe , metro systems are in operation in Minsk (Belarus), Kyiv (Ukraine), Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Moscow (Russia). In Southeastern European countries, there are metro systems in Athens and Thessaloniki (Greece), Belgrade (Serbia), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Istanbul (Turkey). In Northern Europe , rapid transit systems exist in Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland). Various terms are used for rapid transit systems around North America . The term metro

14384-412: Was extended to Jefferson Park in 1970, Rosemont in 1983, and O'Hare in 1984. The portion between the junction northwest of the subway portal and the other Metropolitan West Side branches was retained as the Paulina Connector , a non-revenue connecting track, as the other Met branches were rerouted from the Loop into the south end of the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway, meaning there was no other connection to

14508-702: Was low and suburbs tended to spread out . Since the 1970s, the viability of underground train systems in Australian cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne , has been reconsidered and proposed as a solution to over-capacity. Melbourne had tunnels and stations developed in the 1970s and opened in 1980. The first line of the Sydney Metro was opened in 2019. Since the 1960s, many new systems have been introduced in Europe , Asia and Latin America . In

14632-400: Was nominal. The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan's vast trackage would come back to haunt the company, which entered receivership in 1897; the similarly-named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year. The new Metropolitan, along with the other companies operating "L" lines in Chicago, became

14756-479: Was planned as early as 1894 and opened on October 11, 1897. The Metropolitan closed the Franklin Street Terminal and routed all its trains through the Loop. The Loop frequently overflowed during rush hours , however, so the Metropolitan soon started terminating some trains at Canal, using stub tracks to turn them back; these trains also benefited west side factory workers, who were not bound for

14880-427: Was proposed in the late 1930s to provide more direct service from Logan Square to downtown . The old elevated lines were originally intended to continue revenue operation alongside this subway. The publicly-owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), which had assumed control of the "L" in 1947, decided to instead discontinue service on the elevated lines with the opening of the subway. The subway opened in 1951, splitting

15004-404: Was provided to Logan Square on May 25, and the Humboldt Park branch opened on July 29. The Metropolitan's lines were originally operated by the West Side Construction Company, which had been responsible for constructing them, and would be transferred to the Metropolitan on October 6, 1896. The backers and officers of the two companies were largely identical, however, so this transfer of ownership

15128-408: Was rebuilt with the expectation that it also would switch trains between the subway and the elevated, much like the State Street subway connects with the earlier elevated North Side main line that remained standing after its construction, and as late as 1949 commuters were promised such a setup that would have preserved the old Logan Square trackage. However, the CTA had no interest in operating either

15252-433: Was rebuilt. Following the reconstruction, in 2006, the CTA introduced a new service pattern in which trains from the Cermak branch use the Paulina Connector to travel to the Loop via the junction with the Lake Street branch. This service is the current Pink Line . Besides the Paulina Connector and the section of the Blue Line between Damen and Logan Square, one other extant section remains at Paulina and Kinzie Streets, where

15376-444: Was ultimately adopted by the other elevateds. As late as 1960, after the original Logan Square branch was supplanted, there was no fare control at Damen besides the station agent. Originally, station agents were on duty 24 hours a day; conductors were introduced on the Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and Northwest branches to instead collect fares on trains during night and off-peak hours in 1931 and remained in use through 1937, although

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